Professor Phil Wood, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, has been announced as the new Chief Executive of the Trust and will start his role from 1 February 2023.
Phil joined the Trust in 2002 as a Consultant Immunologist and has since held operational and strategic roles including Medical Director for Strategy and Planning and Clinical Director for Pathology and for Oncology.
Chief Medical Officer since 2020 and more recently Deputy Chief Executive, working closely with colleagues across the Trust, Phil has helped navigate some turbulent and challenging times at the same time as sharing many successes. He displayed outstanding and inspiring leadership through the pandemic, regularly briefing staff and updating patients and the general public through the media. He also led the West Yorkshire region as Senior Responsible Officer for the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, which was one of the leading programmes in the country.
Phil has executive accountability for the delivery of the Trust’s Research & Innovation activity in his role as chair of the Research & Innovation Management Group. He is Chair of the North East & Yorkshire Genomic Medicine Service Board and a member of the national Genomics England (GEL)/NHSE Joint Board.
He is former Chair of the West Yorkshire Vascular Surgery Service and continues to be Medical Director representative on the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT) planned care board.
Comments Dame Linda Pollard, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Chair, “I am delighted that Professor Wood has accepted the role as our new Chief Executive. Not only does Phil understand the Trust well, his enthusiasm to build on our strong foundations for the future and his refreshing approach to bringing about positive changes and progress impressed the recruitment panel in what was an extremely challenging and robust recruitment process against some incredibly high-quality candidates as you might expect for a trust of our size and reputation.”
Professor Phil Wood comments, “I am thrilled to be taking on the role of Chief Executive of one of the largest and busiest teaching hospitals in the country. As we know, the past few years have been incredibly challenging for staff, patients and all healthcare colleagues. However, by working together, being patient focused and using our strong improvement methods, I believe we can take Leeds Teaching Hospitals on to the next part of its journey and to further success.”
An Honorary Professorship in Healthcare Leadership from the University of Leeds was awarded in November 2022, recognising Phil’s leadership contribution across research, innovation, education and training.